13 retired Premier League players who would’ve thrived at Barcelona

The Premier League is considered by many to be the greatest division in world football, and there’s a lot of merit to that statement. However, playing for a team like Barcelona is one of the greatest privileges you could have, and these 14 stars should’ve had that opportunity.

Can you imagine the original Ronaldo going up against Jaap Stam or Zinedine Zidane going toe-to-toe with Jay-Jay Okocha in the showboating stakes?!

Dennis Bergkamp

The master. Dennis Bergkamp pretty much invented the term football porn, and throughout his career he displayed some of the finest technique the world has seen.
The Dutchman would've lit up La Liga with impeccable skill, precision and accuracy.
Source: These Football Times

Gianfranco Zola

The little Italian pretty much embodies the determined, skilful stereotype that comes with his nation; Zola could've easily tore the Spanish top division on a week-to-week basis.
Defenders wouldn't have known what to do with him and he'd be scoring for fun. Simple.
Source: eurocalcio24

Eric Cantona

Class, elegance and skill - the three qualities that King Eric possesses, would lead to the Barca faithful instantly falling in love with him.
The pace probably suits him more than the Premier League and the Frenchman could dictate any game he's in, like a puppeteer.
Source: Twitter

Jay-Jay Okocha

Jesus christ can you imagine the reaction of the lower La Liga sides when coming up against Jay-Jay Okocha? They'd be baffled.
The trickster would have even more freedom to express himself on the pitch, which is a truly frightening prospect.
Source: Goal

Gus Poyet

A career plagued by injuries that was desperate to break out into something so much more.
Poyet had every skill necessary to thrive and during his tenure at Chelsea he proved that, so just picture what he could've done for Barcelona. The now-47-year-old would've been a visionary.
Source: YouTube

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Jimmy Floyd has already conquered Spanish football once before during his goal-laden stint at Atletico Madrid, and at the time they were a team destined for relegation.
If you take the Dutchman and put him in that Barcelona set-up, magic would happen.
Source: These Football Times

David Ginola

Jurgen Klinsmann

If you need goals, call Jurgen Klinsmann. As Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo have proven, if you can consistently hit the back of the net in the Premier League then that will almost always translate over to La Liga. A deadly finishing ability would go hand-in-hand with Barca.
Source: talkSPORT

Ian Wright

The once-record goalscorer for Arsenal, may not have been the most appealing choice but the Englishman was able to perform at the highest level throughout the majority of his career.
It's not hard to imagine him bagging 25 or 30 goals-per-season, and he probably wouldn't even need to break a sweat.

Jaap Stam

What an absolute beast of a man. The Dutchman struck fear into the hearts of whoever came up against him - the bloke wouldn't be out of place on Gladiators.
Spanish football would quiver at the sheer sight of him, which makes his status on this list inevitable.
Source: Independent

Nemanja Vidic

Solid as a rock is the perfectly description of Nemanja Vidic.
Years and years of fantastic performances leave him right up there with some of the best ever, and playing in front of a mass amount of people at the Nou Camp would have added to his legacy. Legend.
Source: campusghanta

Robert Pires

Robert Pires made everything he did look utterly effortless. It was like he was constantly walking on a cloud and nobody else could touch him.
You can just imagine Barcelona begging for his services.
Source: Buzz.Ie

Patrick Vieira

You can't help but admire Patrick Vieira - unless you're a United or Spurs fan of course. He was the definition of a midfield general, who didn't take shit from anyone - not even Roy Keane.
If he had made the move to Barcelona, you can bet your hard earned money he'd have taken the captaincy.
Source: YouTube

It’s bizarre to think that such an illustrious group of players, would’ve only played a small part in forming the legacy of the great Barcelona. The club’s history speaks for itself, and the greatest compliment these men could be given is that they would have been worthy of wearing the shirt.

I'm a 22-year-old sports journalist covering football, MMA, NFL, WWE and more. I'm a Wolves fan, because for some reason I enjoy misery and heartache season after season.
Forever dreaming of a team of Steve Bulls.